It's Never That Simple
by UnchartedDarkness
Summary: Rose has crush on Scorp and she's waited three years for him to ask her out. Sixth year approaches and he still hasn't! What's a girl to do (New Story :) But is it really simple as it seems?
1. Chapter 1: The Kiss

**Hi beautiful people! So, new fic. I'll tell you this much, it's not as simple as it seems :) I hope you enjoy...**

**Warnings for Substance/Alcohol use, Slash and Cussing, the works (purely for future chapters)**

**Much appreciate if you R&R**

**~Dark.**

* * *

Three years was enough. Three years was bloody well enough for Scorpius Malfoy to ask out Rose Weasley.

What faults did she have? Yes, when they interacted for the first time in Third Year she may have been rather flat-chested but one had to admit that Rose had filled out quite a bit over the next year. She was tall for her age, but that should hardly matter. Pitted against her cousins Albus and James, she was almost short and Scorpius certainly towered over her. She had great taste in music albeit not much sense in fashion. She'd taken to make up, applying it more routinely rather than once in a blue moon. She had curves, small ones, but still. She played a mean game of Gobstones and held the record among her cousins and friends. Her blue eyes were striking against her vibrant red hair. She was smart and did well in her studies unlike the brainless toothpick-resembling midgety little twats that often gossiped about having spent a day out with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

Yes, three years was more than enough.

Rose Weasley, huffed her way along the corridor to the Prefects Common Room with these thoughts in mind. Sixth Year, she had decided, would be different. However as usual she was late for the morning Prefect's meeting and every head turned as she opened the doors with a loud creak.

"-remind everyone that toilet paper is not an infinite resource-"

Head boy, Ian Fray paused midsentence staring at the intrusion. Head girl Bella Strong narrowed her sharp eyes at her. Rose had the feeling neither of them liked her very much.

"Sorry!" Rose hurried along the side of the room and dropped herself into the only vacant seat- which happened to be right across the room from Scorpius.

"That's alright," Ian said stiffly adjusting his tie, and resumed, "as I was saying about the toilet…"

"Late again?" the voice next to her inquired quietly.

"I forgot!" Rose murmured back trying to control the flush of red in her face that would promptly appear when Scorpius was in a 0.5-mile vicinity.

"Day-dreaming?"

"No!"

"What _would_ mother say!" her neighbour continued to suggest with a hint of mocking disapprovement.

"Hush. I'm not my mother." Rose whispered back. Clearly the truth, Rose cared much less for rules and deadlines than her famed mother, Hermione. Despite her stellar academics she had been known to hand in homework past due date and was once caught dumping frog-spawn in the Prefect's bathroom- on more than one occation.

"You are the worst Gryffindor Prefect ever!" the whispering neighbour pestered again.

"Quiet, you!"

"Dishonour on your family!"

"Shhhh!'

"Dishonour on you!"

"Stop!"

"Dishonour on your cow!"

"Al!"

"Mr Potter! Miss Weasley! Do either of you have a particularly interesting anecdote to share with the group?" asked Ian Fray crossing his arms indignantly over his chest. It was Ian Fray's long-time ambition to teach at Hogwarts and he was already prepping himself.

Albus smiled, the corner of his mouth pulling up while Rose struggled to keep her face impassive. He pushed his silky hair back with flair.

"Other than regenerating toilet-rolls you mean?" he questioned innocently, "Definitely not."

"Rose?" Ian turned to her.

"No, sorry."

Rose grinned at Albus while the Heads moved on to discuss patrol schedules. As she turned she caught sight of Scorpius across the room. Seated in a rigid posture that seemed innate to him, Scorpius' silver-blue eyes had locked on her. As she looked back at him he broke away from her gaze with a flickering curt smile. For the rest of the meeting his attention was resolutely placed upon the Heads.

Her cousin, for all his efforts, had not managed to put out the flames and Rose was feeling quite annoyed with her long-time crush by the end of the meeting. Resolving to make a point of not speaking to him she waited for Scorpius to approach her before turning haughtily and dramatically exiting the room.

"Rose, wait!"

Rose kept walking, her heels marking her purposeful stride along the corridor.

"Rose! Hold on!"

With a loud sigh Rose came to a halt at the end of the corridor. Her arms still cradling her Homework Planner to her chest (Hermione had insisted on practical gifts), she turned around.

"Yes?"

"Rose." The voice addressed patiently and Rose realised she still had her eyes closed and quickly opened them.

"Oh... it's you!" she said, when met with the sight of her cousin, adamant black hair and bright green eyes, an impish grin growing on his face.

"Oh no need to get so excited! It's just me!" Albus rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, Al… I was expecting-"

"Prince Scorpion, I know."

It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. None of her cousins save for Dominique had quite approved of her infatuation with the Slytherin prefect.

"You forgot your bag, your highness!" Albus held out her leather book-bag by its strap.

"Oh!" Rose took the bag and slung it over her shoulder, her cheeks flushing again. "How stupid of me!"

"My thoughts precisely!" Al smiled at her, "See you at Charms!"

She waved her cousin goodbye as he headed down the staircase. When she turned, her breath caught. Scorpius Malfoy was still at the opposite end of the hallway just outside the Prefect's Common Room. He was crouched in the large patch of sunlight drifting in through the high-window. He was tying his shoelace. Sunlight had turned his light blonde hair a warm gold. _How the bloody hell was that fair? _Rose wondered, When all she wanted to do was be mad at him for being so thoroughly impassive, how was it fair that he looked, _like an angel just fallen from heaven._

Shoelace secured, Scorpius stood up pulling his book-bag onto his shoulder, at which point he noticed a slender red-head watching him across the short corridor.

"Weasley!" he shook his head immediately regretting it, "I mean, Rose. Hello."

_Weasley_. Rose felt her soaring spirits dampen.

It started like this. Well, according to Rose it did.

They were children from families that hardly ever gathered in the same social circles. As such, the first time they knew of each other's existence was on their way to Hogwarts for the first time. Her father had warned her about him and she was an eleven-year-old daddy's girl then. Rose had first thought of Scorpius as unfriendly and sullen for he sat in the same compartment as she and four others but spoke to no one throughout the journey.

They did not speak again for a long time. It would seem astonishing but happened more often than one would believe. They were sorted into different houses, had different relatives and friends, He played Quidditch, she couldn't care less about Quidditch. She liked Dante Rossetti, whom _he_ believed had written the muggle favourite 'Romeo and Juliet'.

She judged him, and harshly, by the testament of those who'd known his father. He kept to himself, which did nothing to dispel the theories of the apple and the tree.

But, thirteen is a tender age, the age that vital streak of rebellion kicks in. Rose began to observe that beneath all she heard and believed about the Malfoys (mostly thanks to her father), Scorpius was different. He tutored the younger students of his house. He was a good chaser for the house team and liked to play by the rules on the field (which was a first for Slytherins). He helped Hagrid usher animals back into their cages after classes and always replaced the books he borrowed from the library to their appropriate shelves. Scorpius Malfoy was in fact _strikingly_ different from all she had heard of his father.

Easter holidays were upon them and they ran into each other while at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley and they spoke to each other out of classes for the first time.

"Happy Easter, Malfoy."

"Happy Easter, Weasley" he'd said then with a courteous smile, although the shock of having been addressed by her had not completely worn off.

They did not speak much for the rest of the year, although a curt nod or smile would be passed if they ever happened to run into each other in the hallways.

Fourth year had brought more confidence for Rose and thus more conversation flowed between them. It was hard however to shake Malfoy off from calling her 'Weasley'. Though she noted with interest that he would turn pink if she happened to talk to him for longer than two minutes and later ventured to find out what other interesting colour changes should take place if she were to talk to him longer.

Though she discovered that his face did not progress beyond an attractive cherry-red colour, unbeknownst to her, Rose was developing some affection to the unfathomably shy Slytherin.

Fifth year was predictable and advantageous. They both became Prefects. More hours were spent together, either at meetings or patrols. They were paired together in classes because both of them kept arriving late after their morning Prefect meetings. Although, Scorpius still spoke much less than Rose who chittered on unhindered, he did pay attention to her and seemed engaged when they _did_ speak. He laughed a few times, she a great deal more. And none of this went unnoticed.

"I don't like it" said Albus with a sceptic look.

"None of us like it!" James, his older brother impressed.

"Oh leave her alone! She's more sensible than the both of you combined!" Dominique was always Rose's supportive best friend.

"All it takes is one mistake!" James acted disturbingly paternal.

"Yes, we all remember the Ramona-I'll-change-my-name-to-Lily-for-you-James! fiasco!"

All of them shuddered. "Creepy."

All in all, Scorpius was not considered the best of prospects for Rose by her over-protective cousins. Despite all the odds, Rose was convinced that Scorpius was one of the good ones. Yet, Scorpius for all the gestures and hints she was giving him seemed to be missing the point.

And now here we are in sixth year. Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, more appropriately described as 'Not Enemies' than 'Friends', standing on opposite ends of a short expanse of (weirdly metaphorical) corridor. She'd decided the wait had been long enough. So she asked herself, when there was no sign of your Prince meeting you halfway, what was a girl to do, except cross the rest of the bloody bridge?

Rose Weasley decided that it was time for that grand romantic gesture (the one there's no coming back from, although she didn't think about that). She pushed the strap of her book bag off her shoulder and placed the it the floor. His friendly expression didn't change as he watched her, still standing in that patch of golden sunlight.

Gathering her damn Gryffindor courage she tossed her hair back artfully and walked purposefully toward him, a daunting force of swishing skirts, swinging hips and swaying hair. Scorpius stood rooted to the spot watching the sunlight glisten copper and gold in her red hair as she approached him, her iridescent blue eyes aglow.

"Rose…?" He did not get a chance to say anything else.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

Scorpius' eyes widened with shock as her lips took shape against his. Her eyes were closed, kissing him softly but decisively. Her entire body was pressed against him. Scorpius could feel a heat rising rapidly burning his skin. His hands finally found her slender waist. And…

He pushed her gently away.

* * *

**Right so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense now, but have faith :) it will. **


	2. Chapter 2 : The Crush

**Hello All, welcome to Chapter 2. **

**Disclaimer: I of course own nothing except this weird convoluted plot and my beloved OCs. The rest is the genius work of JK Rowling. **

**viewer warnings from previous chapter continue... and that's it. Let's get on with it :)**

**R&R people, pretty please!**

**~Dark**

* * *

Their lips came apart with an awkward separating noise and Rose's eyes flew open, shock written all over her features. She backed away immediately from Scorpius, her hand covering her mouth.

Scorpius' stomach squirmed at the look in her eyes. Absolute unmasked shock. The girl had never thought- it had never crossed her mind- that she would be rejected by him. Her blue eyes darkened and Scorpius with a strangled apology reached forward with a soft gesture but she recoiled from him as if he was going to electrocute her.

Swallowing Scorpius let his hand drop. He cared about her, he knew that. He'd call her a friend if he was sure she wouldn't think it presumptuous. But he just didn't feel _that_ way… and he had no inclination that _she_ did.

He'd always admired the clear blue eyes she had and as he watched now, the shock in them gave way to pain. Rose pulled away her hand and her lower lip trembled so much she consciously bit down upon it.

"Oh my God," her beautiful blue eyes glistened and Scorpius felt his stomach twist.

"Rose… I…"

"I have to go…" she said in a broken whisper her eyes on the floor.

"Rose… please" he protested, but she was already walking away. In no time at all she had gathered her bag and descended the stairs out of his view leaving Scorpius standing still in the sunlight.

"What you need to understand is that even though the Goblins were clearly aware that the revolution was going to end in a devastating number of their deaths, with pride they believed their rights should be defended and charged the enemy head-on" Professor Binns (yes, he's still a ghost and still the History teacher at Hogwarts) ranted on.

"That just makes them a bunch a morons!" Albus commented in an undertone beside Rose. Rose said nothing which caused her cousin to glance at her questioningly.

The one good thing about History of Magic was that after five years of studying the damn subject, it gave Rose a 'Malfoy-free' hour when she'd desperately needed one.

Albus ruffled his already messy hair out of habit. "You'd think he'd talk about more recent history considering there were _two_ Wizarding Wars since the bloody Goblin revolution. But no, to him, Goblins are the shit! That's what you get for having a ghost teach you history! Where are the bloody Winchesters when you need them?"

Rose was twirling her quill between her fingers as she lay sprawled across her open book, her eyes dark and distant.

"Ok, you're not laughing at any of my jokes! What's going on? Did the Flying Monkees break-up?"

Rose pulled herself up and managed a smile.

Albus frowned, "You're not ok, don't bother saying it. What happened?" he asked again with concern.

Al had always been able to see through her to the truth she sometimes hid. They were close in a way that was hard to describe. They defined it as "cousin psychology" that they were able to read each-other so well. Albus was protective of Rose when need be but mostly he was a shoulder to lean on. He knew her smiles, the real from the forced and he knew her secrets. Well… most of them.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's ok, though… I just need a little time."

Al gave her a thorough look, "Is this a Chocolate-and-Ice-cream problem or do we need to get drunk?"

Rose actually gave a small laugh. "Be prepared for either… I really don't know how this is going to turn out!"

"You better not be pregnant, you know your brother and you know mine. Between the two your child will be fatherless in the foreseeable future."

"Al! For Merlin's sake, I'm not pregnant!"

The whole class had gone suddenly silent and Rose realised the volume of her voice. Her eyes widened seeing every head turned toward them.

"Well… congratulations Ms Weasley? May we continue with the topic?" asked the aged ghost of Professor Binns.

Al was shaking with silent fits of laughter. Rose flushing bright-red, kicked him under the table.

"Gridylow!"

"Kelpie!"

"Hippogriff!"

"Hey! Hippogriffs are majestic creatures."

"Hinkypunk!"

"Ok that's just degrading."

It was after lunch. Rose had a free period and was spending it with her girlfriends, Dominique, who was boldly ditching Herbology and Alyss who had just finished her late homework. While Alyss trilled about her boyfriend and Dom complained about the piling homework, Rose tried very much not to think about the only thought haunting her.

Every time –every few minutes- when the thought came to mind, she felt her stomach drop as if she'd missed a step coming down.

He'd pushed her away…

Rose paused, her quill shaking in her hand, her throat went tight against the sob she was vehemently stifling down.

_No_. She told herself firmly. _I will not cry over a stupid boy! NO! _

_He doesn't want me… and that's fine. I will not be reduced to tears. _

A large drop of ink fell from the tip of her paused quill and splattered onto her parchment.

Alyss who was drabbling on came to a sudden pause, "I don't get the obsession he has with my ear, he keeps nibbling on it and honestly- oh no! Rose! You've dropped ink on your essay!"

Dom and Alyss turned to Rose as she numbly registered the ink smeared over the last words she'd written: An ugly black splotch in the middle of her otherwise neat essay. And Rose, who always smiled, who skipped her way to classes, who absently played with her hair and nibbled on stolen toast whilst in the library, Rose who hardly ever frowned, broke into tears.

Dom and Alyss looked at Rose alarmed for a few seconds before launching to her side and hugging her within an inch of her life. They were firing questions so rapidly, it all sounded like noise.

"I-I'm fine! I'm fine!" stammered Rose, "It's just… nothing… I think I'm getting my period or something…" Rose wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her jumper sufficiently ruining her mascara.

Dom winced, "Oh honey-don't!" but it was too late. Rose had a black running mark smeared over her cheek.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Alyss asked rubbing a soothing hand over her shoulders. But Rose couldn't handle being cared for right now. She knew she would start balling her eyes out right there in the middle of the library if she stayed.

"I- I just- I need a potion from Madam Brown! It's just cramps…" Rose got up shoving her books quickly into her bag as Dom and Alyss watched startled, "I'll see you in Transfiguration!" she promised and hurried out of the library wiping the back of her hand over her cheeks.

Her heels clicked along the corridor as she battled her way into the girl's bathroom. Her bag fell from her shoulder onto the stone-tiled floor as Rose braced herself against the sink. Her chest was heaving and her vision blurred with fresh tears.

She'd tried so hard to keep it at bay. She had convinced herself it was a silly crush. She had only fancied him and they don't always necessarily like you back…

_It's ok. _She kept telling herself. But that wasn't all… It wasn't just a silly crush.

Rose had allowed herself to be whisked away by Scorpius and his captivating silver-blue eyes. She'd searched on the internet at home the muggle books he'd mentioned reading and of course read them all the following week. Scorpius had let it slip once that he enjoyed reading the muggles' idea of magic but kept the books hidden from his father. She'd read up magazines and online articles of how to get a blokes attention without seeming to do so. And after all that she believed it would be Scorpius coming to her. She'd imagined herself standing in front of Scorpius as he stammered his way to asking her out while she pretended to not have an inkling. She imagined fighting with him, they were both very competitive academics at times, and she imagined him exhaling loudly and giving up. She imagined herself hounding him on why he wasn't persistent with his argument, following him from aisle to aisle of the library while Madam Pince gave her reproachful looks until Scorpius finally turned around and kissed her thus explaining himself.

The stifled sob in her chest broke through and tears fell mixed with black eyeliner staining the porcelain of the sink. Sixteen didn't seem old enough for heartbreak.

"Aww, are you crying?" came the mildly curious tone of a girl that could barely hide her glee.

"Go _away, _Myrtle!" growled Rose. "God!" she wiped her face hastily, "can't you just give someone a little bit of privacy!?"

Myrtle giggled at Rose's anger and sat atop one of the partitions separating the loos. She crossed her legs and smoothened out her ghostly skirt looking mildly entertained.

"Oooh are you pregnant?"

Rose growled again, "No!"

"Because, your mother had that scare, you know" Myrtle said matter-of-factly.

"Oh please, you told my mother the exact same thing and Gran never even went to Hogwarts!" Rose snapped angrily. "Just leave it! I know you're bored with being undead and all but really this is NOT a good day!" She said as Myrtle opened her mouth again. Pursing her mouth Myrtle turned away haughtily.

Rose took a deep calming breath and faced the sink again. The mirror was cracked and unpleasantly smudged in placed but it would have to do. She looked at her reflection for a moment. Her cheeks were smeared with dark tear-tracks, her lips chewed and reddened, her blue eyes were bloodshot and her hair was plastered to her forehead and neck.

_This wouldn't do, Rose._ Rose told herself in the soothing voice she always used to collect herself when she went to pieces. She rarely did, but when it happened she always pulled herself up. Rose was more like her mother than she realised. Heartbreak, after all happened to almost everyone at least once, even Hermione Granger.

Rose pulled her wand out of her pocket and after splashing some water on her face produced a clean napkin to wipe her face. At wand point Rose fixed her unruly curling red hair into a tame fringe and directed the wayward strands into a thick braid that ended midway down her back. With another flick of her wand, there was a rustling noise and a black ribbon flew out and tied itself neatly onto her braid. She then directed her attention to her make-up. Just a touch of concealer to hide the tear-induced redness around her eyes, black eyeliner strode boldly along the edge of her eyelids, mascara gripped and pulled at her lashes. A peach coloured lip-gloss completed her look. Rose looked into her reflection once more and the transformation almost unsteadied her.

Myrtle behind her gave a disgruntled croak from the back of her throat which was confirmation enough that Rose looked fabulous. Her heart still ached, her throat still felt dry and strung when she swallowed. But Rose decided that she will look her best when she tried to get through the rest of this day. With a small smile in spite of everything, Rose came out of the bathroom and walked with all the grace she could muster toward the staircases. That is, until the bell rang loudly starling her and reminding her that her Transfiguration books, essential for her next class, were in her bag- on the bathroom floor.

Rose ran –with anything _but_ grace- back to the bathroom. Myrtle hadn't even moved- save for rolling her large eyes at her- and watched in boredom while Rose scrambled for her bag and scuttled out of place as quickly as she could.

Rose ran all the way back down the corridor and pushed past the crowd shuffling slowly down the staircases to the ground floor. Swinging her bag over she shoulder she skipped across the Middle courtyard as fast as possible and burst into the Transfiguration room.

Thankfully, the Professor had not arrived yet, neither had the rest of the Gryffindors. The Slytherins however, Rose realised with a jolt, were present. At the back bench, Scorpius Malfoy sat between Skipper Malling and Felix Zabini. He seemed to be trying to settle a feud between his two friends and suddenly looked up as Rose entered.

Rose felt ice cascade into her stomach. In the fraction they looked at each other before she dropped her gaze, she saw sympathy in his eyes. _Sympathy_.

She _hated_ him. Anger and embarrassment boiled through her to the surface, her skin flushed a startling pink, her head clearing quickly.

"No, you daft shit!" Skipper rebuked his friend Felix, "Beau_mont _discovered Gillyweed! Bow_man _invented the Golden Snitch!"

Felix opened his mouth to argue but never got the chance.

"Give it a rest! Both of you!" Scorpius shoved them to opposite corners of the bench. His heart was beating a little irregularly. He felt wretched about seeing Rose and the way she looked at him. As if he'd killed her pet mouse. Her eyes were full of betrayal and hurt. He looked at her to his side but she was looking down, her teeth plunging into her bottom lip as she tried to find a page in her book. Before he could debate between getting up and talking to her, the Gryffindors filed in followed shortly by Professor McGonagall. With a sigh Scorpius turned his attention to the board.

Transfiguration was a tough subject. And Rose could not have appreciated the fact more. It wasn't like Potions where after mixing ingredients one had too much time left to do nothing but let the damn thing brew while trying to make small talk with one's partner.

No. Transfiguration was the subject that required your utmost concentration, beginning to end. A small lapse in attention could cause disastrous consequences to one's project.

Therefore the hour passed unbeknown to Rose. Dom and Alyss after inquiring how she was feeling at the beginning of the class, then set about their work, retelling Rose's 'PMS situation' to Emily Longbottom who joined Rose at her desk. Rose did very well with her transfiguration of a tea-pot into a jewellery box, incorporating the flowery pattern of the china into the box. McGonagall gave her credit for this, which definitely raised her spirits.

Rose, Emily, Alyss and Dom packed their bags after the bell dismissed them and left the class together. The pinkish orange sun of the afternoon glazed across the courtyard as they trekked the grass back towards the Entrance Hall.

"Girls, go get your beauty naps now! I want to see all your tushies at the party tonight!" Albus had caught up to them slinging an arm around his cousin Dominique.

Dom grinned, "Of course, we'll be there!"

"You're coming aren't you Em?" he looked to Emily, who had a history of flaking, "We promise not to get you caught!"

Emily was rather short for her age but still utterly adorable with chocolate brown locks framing her heart-shaped face and eyes the exact same shade. She gave a very non-committed shrug.

"Emily Florence Isabelle Longbottom!" Albus narrowed his green eyes at the girl in question who winced at the sound of her full name. "You _must_ come!"

"He's got 'unnamed' ghosts spying on me guys!" whined Emily speaking of Professor Longbottom who was duly protective of his daughter.

"Oh tosh, we'll give you James' cloak! No one will know." Al dismissed, then turned to Rose, "Rosie?"

"Hmm?" Rose who had thus far been quiet looked up.

"You're coming, yes?" Albus bore his intense gaze into hers as if to say '_You'd better… or else.'_

She nodded. There was no way he'd let her get out of it and besides it would probably keep her mind off as long as possible.

"Brilliant! See you all then!" and with that Al took off at a mad dash across the hallway to catch-up with someone.

"I have nothing to wear!" Dominique despaired as soon as Al departed.

This was met with groans and impatient eye-rolls from the fellow three.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Alyss, "Dominique your clothes are beginning to invade _my_ closet! If you have nothing to wear, the rest of us should walk around permanently naked!"

Dom laughed, "There's a boy somewhere whose brains just exploded!"

By late evening Dominique's limitless vault of clothes had exploded all over the girl's dormitory. Their beds were covered in garments of every colour and print imaginable.

Finally, she'd settled for a dark-blue dress with a plunging neckline. The blue contrasted well with her blonde hair and brought out the pinkish colour of her cheeks. She pulled on a pair of satin pumps as Emily smoothed the front of her outfit in front of the mirror.

Emily had given herself some advantage with a short deep violet skirt that showed off most of her tanned legs and giving her more height and pairing it with a sequinned blue halter top and a glossy thick black belt around her mid-riff.

Alyss wore a lovely green dress that brought out the colour of her eyes and looked great against her long brown hair pulled over one shoulder.

Needless to say the only one left hogging the bathroom was Rose.

"ROSE! Hurry up!" came a unified cry through the bathroom door as if on cue.

Rose looked at her reflection once more. Her eyes were clear, a lovely brilliant blue. The tears locked safely away. Her dress- one of Dom's- was a close fitting black tank-dress interspaced with gold accents and translucent black fabric that showed slivers of her shadowed pale skin.

Rose felt blood run warm in her cheeks looking at herself now and tugged self-consciously at the material. Gold eyeliner and powder made her eye-lids shimmer, black mascara highlighting their dazzle.

_Now, let's see a smile. _Rose put her best effort into it and managed a decent- if not genuine- smile.

Dom had a pair or black pumps in hand when she came out of the bathroom.

"Oooh!" Emily's eyes widened as she complimented Rose. "You look lovely!"

"Thanks love," smiled Rose, "We all do!" she pulled on the pumps and Dom ushered them out to the common room.

"Come on! We're late!"

They filed outside the fireplace of the common room and Dom pull out a small velvet drawstring-bag with blue coloured Soot-Repelling Floo Powder. She handed each of them a handful and one by one they stepped into the fireplace.

What their parents and countless generations before them had failed to accomplish, this generation of witches and wizards certainly had, with flair. And that, was finding the perfect place at Hogwarts to host a secret-no-teachers-allowed-party without hassle, professors spying in, worrying about overcrowding the place or how to get food into the room.

"Ready!?" asked Dom and uttered the location loud and clear. "KITCHENS!"

Blue-green flames shot up from beneath their feet. Rose felt a tug as her feet left the common room fire and a short whirlwind of colour later landed unsteadily on a pile of soot.

The first thing Rose noticed was the pounding volume of the music. Taking Dom's arm she stepped carefully into the vast room already packed with fellow students dancing uninhibitedly to the music. Neon beams of different colours arced along the domed roof.

Spot lights danced and flickered on the crowd moving as one. There were alternate sudden bursts of silvery confetti that achieved whooping noises from the dancing teenagers. Silver trays with multi-coloured drinks floated along the room. Spots of colour from an unknown source danced along the dim stone walls.

"This looks great!" Dom grinned and along with Emily grabbed a few drinks for them. The Kitchens were hardly recognisable. Looking around Rose felt more relaxed and wished to enjoy the night.

James Potter with fellow trouble-maker Freddie Weasley had been the duo to discover the potential of the room. The kitchens had its cooking area and serving area. The latter happened to be precisely the size of the Great Hall and thus capable of holding the entire student body. Additionally the room was sound-proofed to prevent the clang and clatter of the busy kitchens from traveling up to the ground-floor classrooms. This could not be a more blessed architectural fact for the new generation of party-goers. And the place was full of happy and helpful Elves who seemed delighted to whip up the most extraordinary foods for the party. The Elves themselves required little convincing to keep the parties a private affair. To top it all off, the Kitchens had several fireplaces which allowed students discreet entrance to the party straight from their dormitories via floo powder. All it took was a few decorations and some music to get a party started.

For discovering this great potential James Potter and Freddie Weasley were given the honour of "_Partius Maximus_" and have since never lost popularity among the student body, even after Freddie left Hogwarts.

As the girls stepped out of the grate there was another flash of flames and someone in a ridiculous looking tiger body-suit appeared

"YOU CAME!" yelled a voice over the music and Albus Potter rushed toward them drink in hand. He hugged Rose and gave her a sloppy kiss on her cheek. "Don't just stand there! Move! Come on!" He dragged her by the hand and the girls chain-linked themselves together heading off to the make-shift dance-floor.

They'd been dancing for a few minutes, Al tossing his wild head of hair about.

"Are you drunk!?" Rose asked loudly over the music leaning into Albus. Albus swayed with the music toward her.

"Who are you talking to?"

"I'll take that as a yes!"

They both giggled.

"Nice dress!" Albus wiggled his eyebrows.

Rose laughed, "I feel slutty!"

"I'm glad I didn't have to point that out!" his green eyes glittering with mirth.

"Haha! You're in charge of protecting my virtue so I don't care!" Rose laughed.

"Honey, I can barely take care of my own!" Al shook his head.

Rose grinned throwing her arms up in the air and twirling around letting the music wash over her. The pinkish purple glow of the room was tingling her nerves. The neon lights popping coloured spots and streaks behind her eyelids. The music pounded in her bones, gushed in her veins.

Within ten seconds Dom had been swarmed by several boys and she seemed to enjoy the attention. Emily and Alyss were dancing together, joined by several classmates.

Rose turned back to Al who was wearing a glittering black sequinned jacket over a white shirt and black jeans. The only colour added was a thin red belt running the waist of his jeans and a matching red bowtie than hung undone around his neck.

"You look fetching!" Rose laughed grabbing Al's drink and downing the red liquid. It tasted like raspberries and grapes and burned her throat.

"Gretchen! Stop trying to make 'Fetch' happen! It's not going to happen!" Al pretended to scold in his most mocking voice.

Rose laughed out loud purely out of hilarity after what seemed an eternity. It almost overwhelmed her and she pulled her cousin tightly to herself and hugged him. Startled Al had his arms pinned to his sides.

"Rose?... you ok?"

Rose pulled away and smiled, "Yeah! Let's go get more drinks!"

"Whoa! Yes, you're going to definitely need a spotter!"

The party raged on and Rose finally was beginning to forget about everything else and was having fun. The usual long tables that resembled the ones in the Great Hall were now lining the sides of the kitchen hall and had been laden with all kinds of foods. People tired of dancing sat along the benches at intervals grabbing a drink or a plate.

Rose shared a bench with Emily, Al, and Alyss. Lily, her youngest cousin wandered over and sat beside her. Lily was very pretty, the kind of pretty that could pull of orange lip-stick. She wore a short black-and-white stripped dress that worked wonders for her. Several boys walked past her giving her smiles but otherwise didn't dare to make a move in front of her brother.

He may look lean but Albus Potter could deliver one hell of a punch. There was evidence.

"Hey Poo! How are you? I haven't talked to you since we got to school!" Lily said hooking her arm through Rose's.

"Why do you always call her Poo?" Alyss wanted to know.

"Because I love her!" Lily said as if this was obvious.

"Dear God!" laughed Emily, "What do you call people you hate?"

Lily thought about it for a moment, "Hippogriff Poo!"

"Hey!" Al protested, "Hippogriff's are majestic creatures!"

Not too far away James was jumping up and down with a few classmates looking just as crazy as he did. They'd charmed their shoes to repel gravity and the boys kept jumping higher and higher as if they were on a trampoline. Rose laughed at them.

"So, whose party is this? I swear I've been here over an hour and I still have no idea." Rose asked Al as the rest of the girls cajoled each other back to the dance-floor.

"Who else? Aubrey, the party-queen! Did you forget she does this every year?"

Rose however had stopped listening to the moment the name had been uttered. "Aubrey?!" She demanded getting to her feet and startling Al who looked at her unfocussed, "As in Aubrey MALFOY?"

Al blinked, "Did I not say party-queen?"

"Oh my God!"

The buzz of the drink and the wonderful sensations of being detached from everything left Rose immediately. She was at _Aubrey Malfoy's _party! Surely her younger brother would be lurking about somewhere!

Rose realised quickly that this was the last place she should be found trying to get over said boy. A stream of curses occurred to her then as she sifted through the sweaty dancing crowd trying to locate the girls. The song changed and the popularity of the next song caused the energetic mass to jump up and down. Rose groaned heavily and was thrown off balance at the exact same moment by a flinging arm.

Rose barely managed to stay upright as she skidded out of the dance floor. She flung her arms out and caught the stone wall before she fell.

"Rose!" called an alarmed voice, "are you alright?"

_NO. No there is no way my luck is that bad!_

Rose turned around slowly. _Apparently it is._

Scorpius Malfoy stood a cautious distance from her, looking at her with concern.

"Fine." She said clenching her jaws.

His silver eyes shimmered pink in the odd lighting. His hair was equally coloured a hue of purple. He wore a simple white shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and black trousers. He had a half-empty drink in his left hand where the family-crest ring glinted on his middle finger. The light was too dim where they stood for her to read his face but his eyes still gazed intently at her. Rose looked away, all the ache and humiliation she felt had miraculously disappeared, instead there was only anger.

Clenching her fists by her sides she strode roughly past him toward the exit at the far corner of the room. Al was nowhere to be seen, she didn't want to leave without telling him but it couldn't be helped. She hoped she wasn't being followed as she opened the large portrait of the fruit bowl and exited the party.

The silence outside the room was unsettling, like being plunged in water. She felt as if her ears were blocked. Rose pulled off her shoes so as to not make a sound and headed toward the marble staircases leading upstairs. The portraits along the walls were silent, their occupants sleeping soundly. Torches were dim and the castle was eerily silent.

Her magically tamed hair was starting to frizz she could tell, strands stuck to her neck and shoulders with sweat. The stone floor however was cold. Her toes felt the biting chill and she hurried her step.

"Wait!" someone grabbed her by the elbow and she whirled around barely keeping from screaming. Malfoy stood inches from her.

"I've been calling your name a dozen times trying to get you to stop! Didn't you hear me?" he asked.

Rose shook her head mutely.

"I wanted to talk to you…"

But Rose had had enough. Biting down in anger she pulled her arm roughly out of his grasp. Malfoy looked slightly hurt and let his arm drop to his side.

"You should go back to your sister's party." Her voice was harder than she'd intended.

"I… it's her last year, she wouldn't notice if I was there." He said softly.

A part of Rose still respected that Scorpius kept his eyes on hers instead of letting them wander over her, especially considering present attire. The next second Rose wanted to stab that part of her viciously.

"I should go," she said and made to leave.

"Please…" Scorpius said, "I'm sorry… about what happened"

Rose turned to him, "No… don't bother. It's alright I quite understand."

A small furrow appeared on his forehead.

"I'm not good enough for you. I'm a Weasley after all."

"Rose, it's not-"

"Associating with me is bad enough right? What would your parents say if you actually kissed me back!"

"Rose-"

"I thought my Dad was wrong about you, you know. I thought you were different. I _liked_ you!"

"I…."

"And you just pushed me away… I mean what- was I blind to something?" Tears were welling up in her eyes and she hated it. She rubbed impatiently at her eyes. "Am I _that_ hideous that you just couldn't stand being _near_ me?!"

"Rose stop," his voice was pleading, the silver eyes in anguish.

"I thought-"

"I'm gay."

And just like that every thought in her head, all the abuses she'd wanted to hurl at him magically evaporated. His eyes were steady but the look in them was tortured. His trembling lips were as stark white as his skin.

Rose's mind went blank except for a random disconnected thought, three words that flashed in her head.

_Delete internet history._

* * *

**_Dun dun duuuun! Good? Bad? Ugly?... Lemme know! _**


End file.
